The Great Suburban Showdown

Her Town Too.

The morning cascaded in through the window and bathed the clean white sheets of Obi-Wan's bed in bittersweet tangerine light. For once in his life, Anakin didn't mind the clean break from sleep. There were worse ways to wake up than buried under sheets that were freshly warmed by the perfectly placed sun. Boy could he name a few. He rolled over and half expected Padmé before remembering the last few days. He felt a sharp pain in his stomach at the thought and managed to get himself out of bed.

He felt more relieved today knowing that he was going back to work and that would distract him considerably from everything. The garage was better than therapy. At least one thing in his life could stay the same. Being a mechanic was one of his life's few joys. He was too busy thinking over his relief as he walked into the main room that he hadn't even spared a thought to how Obi-Wan's day might go until he saw the man's briefcase on the table. He sucked in his breath at the sight and found his partner adjusting his tie for what Anakin firmly believed must have been for the ninth or tenth time. He knew him well enough to make that educated guess.

He felt guilty for feeling so much as relieved for just those few moments when he caught sight of Obi-Wan's dueling expression. It occurred to him just how strange everything was. Apart from it being heartbreaking and difficult, it was also completely odd. Obi-Wan would now have to face the consequences of it all at a job where he worked just a few classrooms away from Padmé. It was quite literally like going to school after a nightmarish fall-out between friends. Not knowing where you'll sit at lunch or who you'll be able to talk to. But everything was on a much worse scale. Not for the first time, Anakin hated himself for putting everyone in this situation. The people he loved were now losing their minds and trying to adapt to life changes that he was starting to question if they were for the better. Obi-Wan would criticize him for that comment.

It put a horrible twist in his gut. What really twisted the knife in his side was the fact that he knew for sure Padmé was doing just the same as his partner. He knew her & Obi-Wan like the back of his hand. And the fact of the matter was...they had some pretty striking similarities. It had once comforted him. It proved to him that despite how hard he could try, despite finding a woman seemingly perfect for him...deep down it just wasn't what he wanted in the end.

Now that fact just hurt him. It was just a constant reminder of what he did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Padmé walked the floors of her home as if it were some small town she was just passing through on a longer journey. It would be what she fought for, what she didn't want and what would be handed to her. If she knew Anakin, and she did, the man would let her have the home without a whisper of a fight. Sometimes she worried what this separation would do to his health...and then she'd pretend she didn't care.

The autumn leaves had her thinking. They swirled about on the back porch in the vacuum of dry and unforgiving air. If she could only stop her mind from racing so intensely and going places she didn't want to be. Part of her was so fucking angry at him. For standing by and allowing her to waste so much of her time and love on a man dipping far more than just his toes in the pools of another man's pleasure.

Part of her was angry at herself. Was she that blind or stupid? Had she missed signs? She never wanted to be rethinking her entire marriage after fifteen years of investment...of work...of what she had mistaken for love.

And a part of her wanted to go back to bed, call her mom and cry her eyes out.

The last one embarrassed her.

So she put on a tough face, put her suit on and got ready for a job she tried to remind herself was worth the pain. A few days ago, she loved it. Although few days ago, she loved the man who'd stabbed her in the back.